Communicating go-live deployments

The work of eCommerce deployments doesn’t end with go-live sign-off.
If you work with eCommerce platforms then you know the happiness of after go-live deployments. The actual events of go-live deployments can be an adventure when unplanned events ‘happen’. But the work doesn’t end with the final sign-off and completion of the deployment plan.

There are a series of tasks after deployment.
One important step is to gather information from listening posts such as voice of customer collection areas. The success of the deployment is really based on how the customers use the system. Unwritten and unspoken voice of customer responses are visible by monitoring the key metrics of the site such as conversion rates, average order value, number of items in the cart, etc.

Don’t underestimate the value of communicating the success to other stakeholders.
I’m not referring so much to the confirmation email that usually goes out to the project team and direct project stakeholders. Certainly, that is an important communication to send. It let’s everyone know that the project team has successfully deployed the new release and that customers are now able to take advantage of the new features.

But there’s a way to get further benefits out of the release by notifying other company stakeholders and customers. This communication summarizes what changed and the value it provides to the customer. In other words, what problem did it solve.

Company stakeholders love this type of communication. It’s a group win that shows a team successfully navigated processes, approvals, and company friction to create something that adds value. People like sharing good news with others, especially clients. So a success communication is often shared again through forwarding. It’s the original viral communication within an organization.

Keep the communication simple and on point.
A good release communication is simple and shows the changes visually. Often times this is done through a blog post or an email. The communication should be written in common language to engage the audience best. I like avoiding charts, tables, and highly structured templates. (It’s not a specification!)

The communication should be upbeat. Let the customer know how excited the team is to deliver value to them. It’s why the team works and this work is a reflection of the team and the commitment to customer value.